Am I mental?

As Giles, said.

I used to commute daily in the 80’s and into the 90’s the 12 miles from Woodside Park (north Finchley) into the City. The best bike I did it on? A Honda 250 K1, an excellent motorbike.

To my mind, riding up to Newcastle, unless you intend to take the scenic routes, is about as exciting as a dull day in Wick. If in doubt, read the posts from our northern friends, bemoaning riding down to the Chunnel. You need something to just munch the miles, preferably cheaply and comfortably. A new GS (if you are thinking new) ain’t cheap.

If you have got the room, I’d buy something like a second (or more) hand, CB500 to commute on. Bulletproof, peanuts to run and easy to maintain. You could even take the piss out of GS riders, hooning through the twisties. Then for the longer stuff, an RT or similar. Integral luggage, no need to add bling. All day comfortable. Excellent in all weathers. Will hoon with ease. A decent secondhand RT, added to a decent(ish) CB500 will come out at less than a GS.... and be a feck sight easier to insure if you are living in London.


Have a look at one of Yamaha’s offerings, too. You could commute, hoon and jaunt to the south of Spain on one. Cheap. Bloody good bikes.

Sound suggestions.

I'd modify only slightly by sticking with a middleweight on it's own for a while and pushing your riding envelope gradually with a few non-work oriented riding trips.

If you love that and you want to do more you may well want to pull the trigger on something instead or even as well

If you are wondering what the majority of bods are commuting on, these from today on the ‘motorbike’ bay near Fenchurch Street station, top of Mark Lane EC3 will give you a clue:

twizzle said:

It will get stolen.

Click to expand...

This. At least it is a significant risk, especially in London.

Doesn't matter what you put on the bike. Scroats use battery powered angle grinders or small hydraulic assisted battery powered bolt croppers capable of cutting through about any chain or hardened shackle these days. Just look at some of the You-Tube videos showing how easily they can nick bikes. Transit van rolls up, two lads jump out with the kit and within a few minutes your bike is gone. Bike is stripped for parts or they already know how to bypass or change the electronics or code keys...who knows, but they get nicked.

The only thing you can do to lower the risk a little bit is ensure disc locks front and back and at least several of the best chains on the market...budget at least £700 to £800 for the best locks. That might buy you more than a few minutes, but some of these thieves can be very persistent.

Personally, I wouldn't entertain commuting into London or any major city if I didn't have secure parking available. Your insurance premium will probably reflect the risk.

Giles said:

Absolutely. Don't narrow your field down to one bike that you've never ridden, go and ride at least three or four top contenders. If you walk into a dealer and tell them pretty much what you've told us, they will bend over backwards to loan you demonstrators. And you'll most likely find that one bike will shine above the others as a choice for you.

If you pull the trigger, consider a days refresher / brush up with a training company to get you back in the groove.

Click to expand...

I just bought a GS off a bloke in auto-trader, then wobbled off into the distance. After 10 years or so off motorbikes (despite lots of cycling) it was an alien world to me.

Get some time on a refresher of some sort before you start back, or just buy something and ensure you can reach the ground when you stop

More than happy with my 2008GS - it's what I knew i wanted, didn't have any test rides (never have for a bike, bought my 955i brand new on the day I passed my test without a test ride)...

Giles said:

Absolutely. Don't narrow your field down to one bike that you've never ridden, go and ride at least three or four top contenders. If you walk into a dealer and tell them pretty much what you've told us, they will bend over backwards to loan you demonstrators. And you'll most likely find that one bike will shine above the others as a choice for you.

If you pull the trigger, consider a days refresher / brush up with a training company to get you back in the groove.

Click to expand...

I just bought a GS off a bloke in auto-trader, then wobbled off into the distance. After 10 years or so off motorbikes (despite lots of cycling) it was an alien world to me.

Get some time on a refresher of some sort before you start back, or just buy something and ensure you can reach the ground when you stop

More than happy with my 2008GS - it's what I knew i wanted, didn't have any test rides (never have for a bike, bought my 955i brand new on the day I passed my test without a test ride)...